After guns fall silent    

Pramudith D Rupasinghe

The guns are silent.  

A heavy stillness hangs in the air,  

broken only by pigeons.  

Man in prosthetics  

watches a football game  

at Kharkov’s death squire.  

Peaches in Lviv and Apricots in Donbas  

forgotten into just apricots and peaches  

sold at Barabashova  

with bad apples across the border.  

Every blasted bridge lies next to a new bridge,

sleeping sons who’ve seen their fathers  

next to a widowed mother.  

Pramudith D Rupasinghe is a Sri Lankan writer and humanitarian. His literary works predominantly unfold in settings beyond his native Sri Lanka, for which he earned the name 'Writer Without Borders. His work of fiction, 'Bayan,' set in pre-conflict Ukraine, won the Golden Aster Prize for Global Literature in 2020 and was longlisted for the 2023 Paris Book Festival. Rupasinghe's works have been translated into several languages, including Sinhalese, Burmese, German, Spanish, Russian, and French. He has also dedicated two decades to humanitarian work, drawing inspiration for his writing from his missions to Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He is known for his thought-provoking narratives that delve into the human psyche, cultural identities, and global experiences. Pramudith seldom writes poetry. His first collection of poetry, ‘Anthropic Waves’ was published by Dahuli Publishers in India in early 2025.  Currently, he is working on his 3rd novel, ‘Roomschool’.  He is also the founder/CEO of The Asian Group of Literature and a cultural curator.